They’re sometimes a little more expensive, but are mil-spec and like @eight_bit_al mentioned … parts are plug 'n play. Those components like keyboards are easily replaced.
Specifically, the keyboards in a Thinkpad are designed with good moisture protection.
They’re legendary. See the reddit forums for yourself.
Thanks @KoO !
Its the power button ribbon itself that’s a bit dodgy at the motherboard end, but now that I have calmed down a bit, I am sure I can fix the end properly or even get a replacement cable
On the touchpad, its the actual clip on the touchpad itself that’s all broken, but I have an ASUS F540N with a broken motherboard (no power, its not the power socket) and that touchpad looks identical, I will have to check first if they are the same then maybe I can put that in.
The keyboard. I do now remember that a couple of keys were a bit dodgy on that from not long after I got it, but they got better. I have the replacement, but am wary of delving into cutting plastic melt rivets / lugs etc whilst its my daily driver so for now I have an external one (after raising my external monitor so the laptop can move back on desk to allow space for the keyboard.
And start saving pennies for a new lappy
not ASUS I suspect
I do like the T410S Thinkpad that I just got handed down, but am not sure on which newer Thinkpads are good.
Thanks @GreenMartian
Would love one
I will have a look around - do you have a specific Reddit in mind?
And any thoughts on which models / ranges are still good?
Are they still Thinkpad or just branded Lenovo these days etc?
Second hand is difficult here as very small market, but I am used to Portuguese keyboard
Might be time for an old dog to learn new tricks tho
Lenovo bought the Thinkpad line. They’re still mil-spec. Good to go … new or old.
Have you tried a pawn shop?
Cool!
Very shipshape, in more ways than one
Bullet bitten
Thinkpad T16 i7 16GB (plus empty slot) 2TB NVMe
My visa card’s stretch marks just got even worse
Oh well, a hope and a prayer and all that
Now I can think about stitching back together the X550LB for fun
Oh no! I meant bite the bullet and replace the dodgy keyboard with the new one. Anyway - the new laptop sounds nice 
Yes - they look nice!!! Good that they have an actual ethernet port.
I thought you meant what I was thinking, classic.
But I had already decided to get a new one
I have seen this coming for a while - its one thing keeping an old machine going when its for fun, another when your livelihood depends on it.
Now there is no stress in putting in the new keyboard, getting a new power button ribbon cable and trying to swap the touchpad over, another fun project for me.
Then I will have yet another nice little capable lappy, to add to the pile
Looking into my T410s project (its running so well) I found this Thinkpad forum which looks cool and has workshop manuals too 
@eight_bit_al I dont know if you haave or would need the T410 workshop manual but:
https://thinkpads.com/support/hmm/thinkpad-hmm.html
@eight_bit_al
I am really enjoying my ‘new’ T410s - its really snappy with just AL i3 on it
I used it to Zoom with my folks last night and core temp went up to 100 C (212 F) , but generally its below 50 C (120 F), so maybe I will put new thermal paste in it (already hoovered it inside, but taking fan etc off looks like a chore from the hardware manual I found)
Did you put an SSD in yours? its a tiny 1.8 Sata
Or did you maybe use the DVD slot with a caddy?
Cheers
Try the flatpak version of Zoom. At a mimimum, you’ll be sandboxed with that one. Thought I had read somewhere that the Zoom client runs as root. However, unsure if that was Win, Mac or other.
Both. The old platter is in the caddy, replaced with an SSD.
8bit
Thanks
Is yours a 410 or a 410s?
I think the 410 has normal 2.5 SATA disks, and know the 410s has a tiny 1.8 SATA disk
That kind of makes sense cause you put your old disk in the caddy?
EDIT, scratch that, you said above it was a 410, sorry
The caddy I took out from the ASUS X550LB doesnt have the correct cutouts for the plastic ‘nose’ ate the back edge of the caddy, nor those for the ‘latch’ plasitc part on the side.
I put the caddy in without those parts swapped over to it, and it works, but am wondering if you got a caddy specifically for Thinkpad / T410.
I found one or two that said they were for T410 etc, but am just checking to see if its necessary
With ArchLabs and a cheap 240 GB SSD in the caddy that little T410s flies along
I also have an installation of ArchLabs on the original internal 240 GB 1.8" HDD as a kind of backup ‘Live’ installation in case of problems with the SSD one
Yes, the 410 caddy was thinner than the 420 and up.
8bit
